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The Wolf Howls: Enter a Stranger
The Encounter There were only a few days left before the exams, and already was beginning to fill from shinobi from surrounding lands. The residents of the hidden village, generally superstitious of outsiders, raised their noses at the newcomers and tried their best to avoid them. Nevertheless, the influx of travelers was good for business, and even as the sun began to set the streets were filled with customers looking to buy equipment for the upcoming event, or simply to find a good meal before nightfall. A lanky youth carrying a giant shuriken on his back fell into the latter category. He tossed his hands behind his head as his stomach growled loudly, and muttered under his breath. “Can’t find a decent meal around this place.” He cast his gaze up at the towering, cylindrical buildings that surrounded him, silent sentinels that loomed over the town. They were strange to him, with thick groves of plants spilling over the sides of their roofs. He had never seen buildings like that in his home land, and he found them slightly monotonous and eerie. As it continued to grow dark mist began to fill the streets, and the lights of the town shone in murky, glowing pools in the dusk. Following the delicious mingled scent of dozens of mouth-watering dishes, he at last found a street filled with food vendors. “All right,” he said, casting his gaze around to find the cheapest establishment. He had been given a limited budget by Jinsei, and the money would not go far, especially considering the amount he would need to eat to build up his energy reserves. He cursed his own immense appetite, and felt a pang of homesickness as he thought of his sensei. He had accompanied a group of genin from Tanigakure, but aside from them all being from the Land of Rivers, he held little in common with the others. Since there were ten of them and he was from outside the official hidden village, he was the odd man out. The Tanigakure jōnin that was in charge of the group had promised him that he would find him a team, but so far that prospect seemed to be growing slimmer and slimmer. “Stay with the group,” the jōnin had told him. “Don’t wander off on your own.” “Hmph.” he curled his lip as he remembered the instructions. “Like hell.” He was not a part of the group to begin with. As usual the other genin had excluded him. Not that he cared. He rarely cared about what others thought of him. But it was that which had prompted him to explore the town on his own, orders or no orders. At last he stopped in front of a small, dingy noodle stand. He stared at the board advertising the prices for a moment before he sighed. Although he was sure the owner had done his best to inflate the prices for the exams, it could not be helped. He was hungry, which meant he was in a bad mood, and he did not care enough to bicker over the prices. “Might as well,” he grumbled as he stepped under the grease-stained curtain and took a seat. Elsewhere within the village Hidden in the Mist was a young black haired boy, accompanied by a wolf. The two were an unbreakable pair, they would often be seen arguing with each other but never the less the bond they shared was one like no other. Raijūmaru, the wolf, was sniffing everywhere trying to adjust to all the new scents in the village. His human partner, Raiden, was one of the many genin level shinobi awaiting the upcoming Chunin Exams. The young shinobi was hyped up about the exams although he wasn't to happy with all these strangers in his home village. He felt that thhe village was to vulnerable with all the foreigners pouring in by the day. Raiden was in a foul mood ever since he had been dismissed from training early because 'apparently' he needed to rest up according to his sensei. It was complete and utter bullshit as far as he was concerned. On top of that his sensei told him and Aoi, his teammate, that they would be having an outsider on their team due to the third members fatal injury on their last mission. It was an insult. As they wondered around the village they saw countless genin from various villages. Curiosity began to grow in Raiden's mind. He wondered how strong the other genin were. An idea came into his head within seconds and a devious smile took up the entierty of his face. "Whats gotten in to you", Asked Raijūmaru, the grey wolf. "Lets see how strong these genin really are", Replied Raiden. "You know the rules strictly forbid combat before the inital exams", Raijūmaru said. "I am the great Raiden Narukami. I know nothing of these rules. Now c'mon"," Raiden responded, in his usual vain, self-centred self. His companion sighed. "This kids gonna be the death of me", ''Raijūmaru thought to himself as the two darted off into th misty sky. A half hour and fifteen bowls of noodles later Chūgo finally emerged from the food stand. He stretched and yawned, still not quite full. But he had succeeded in subduing the gnawing pit in his stomach, and that would do for now. It had grown considerably darker since he had sat down to eat, and as he stared at the sky he noted gathering clouds, and found that the air was heavy with the scent of rain. He supposed it would be best to return to his team’s headquarters, although he did not care either way if he were caught in a storm or not. He set off once more, chewing on a toothpick as he walked and quickly losing interest in the town as he continued to wander through it. There were a lot of genin strolling about, he noted, but none of them impressed him. If he were not running so short on daylight he would have explored the forests outside the village instead of the streets, in order to get a good feel for the terrain. He had been told the ground could be treacherous, filled with unseen marshes that could swallow a shinobi in the blink of an eye. If that were the case, the second part of the exam would be incredibly dangerous. He frowned. Perhaps he should be more concerned with the first part: the written exam. After all, if he did not pass that there would be no need to study a marsh he would never get to in the first place. Maybe it would be better to return to headquarters to study, but he cast that thought aside. It didn’t matter in the end, whether he studied or not, he concluded. And at this rate, he wanted to avoid, for as long as possible, contact with the jōnin who would no doubt have a lengthy earful to give him upon his return. He was just about to turn back when something caught his attention. He stopped, turned and, with a sudden light of interest in his eyes hurried over to peer in through the store front. It was a shop selling all manner of gadgetry, from used radios to TVs and toasters. ''Perfect place to kill more time. He thought. He dragged his hand over his mouth to make sure there were no traces of residual noodle left on his face as he made his way towards the door. Meanwhile.. Raiden and his partner had been stealthily pursuing multiple genin from foreign villages. As the darkness befell the Hidden Mist village the two began to grow tired of this pointless search. "If the ninja from the other villages are like these chumps, we'll ace this test for sure!" Raiden declared triumphantly. Raijū halted their high speed travel and descended upon a rooftop, his nose sniffing the air erratically. He almost looked happy, which came has a surprise to Raiden as the wolf was generally moody. "Raijū, wussup?" Questioned Raiden. "Just caught a whiff of a strong chakra, perhaps stronger than yours and its no one from our villages chakra," Replied the wolf. Being a wolf granted Raijū extrodinary sensory prowess, far greater than those of a human. Even surpassing a ninja hounds. "Bullshit.. We'll see about that," The same devious smile emerged on Raidens face yet again. "What ever it is, lets check it out," Completely contradicting his previous comment but he couldn't supress his curiosity. "Lead the way.. bitch," Raiden Mocked. The offended party chose to ignore it as he snorted and jumped off into the night sky. Under normal circumstances, Chūgo was not particularly receptive to the chakra signatures of others. But now he could sense the approaching individual clearly, their aura registering like rising red bars in his mind. Well, not really in his mind, as in his hand he held a chakra-measuring device. “How much for this, old man?” he asked the storekeeper behind the counter. The grizzled, bearded vendor scowled and gave him an exorbitant number. Chūgo sighed and placed the device back on the shelf. He figured a chakra monitor would have come in handy, but it was far above his price range. Maybe he could try and come up with something on his own once he returned home. With a slouched posture he exited the shop and stared up at the sky for a moment. What the read-out on the screen had shown him was an intense and swiftly approaching chakra signature, and now he did not even need a device to sense it. Strangely enough, although he could have been imagining it, the mist around him seemed to be charged with an almost electric presence. Whoever his unseen enemy was—that level of intensity could only belong to an enemy— they were undoubtedly out to catch him. A grin spread across Chūgo’s face. In that case, he would just have to catch them first. Chūgo took off at a sprint, running through the streets until he found what he was looking for: a short, narrow alley hedged in by a wall to one side and a low, two-story building on the other. Perfect. Quickly and nimbly, he strung a complex wire pattern across the span of the alleyway, fixing the wires to small shuriken that he concealed from sight in the cracks in the walls or under the ground. What was most complicated about the trap was the way he suspended the string. He carefully planned the design so that, with a simple pull at the right angle the hexagon of layered wire would close upon his adversary in an instant. As a final measure, Chūgo placed several exploding tags in a ring around where he was sure his opponent would land, smoothing the dirt over them so the ground looked undisturbed. “All right,” he said as he straightened up and brushed off his hands. He widened his stance and exhaled before forming the seal for ram with his hands, followed by snake and tiger. An intangible copy of his own body appeared, and by exerting a bit more chakra he was able to make it appear solid enough so that he and his clone were indistinguishable. He left the illusion in the center of the wire hexagon and, in a flash, had disappeared from the alley. He concealed himself in the thick foliage on the roof of the two-story building, and peering out from the shadows, waited for his enemy to arrive. Across the road, opposite the alley stood a three-story building and on top of it landed a male and a wolf, obviously Raiden and Raijū. As the two were aspiring assassins they were more than proficient in the art of Silent Killing. "Target Aquired," Whispered Raiden to his partner, gesturing to twelve o'clock dead ahead. The person with the mysterious chakra level stood at the end of a one way alley way. Raidens silent killing technique required him to get behind his enemy first but seeing as to were his foe had stationed him self that was impossible. "Impressive," ''Raiden thought to himself. Just as he was about to leap from the building he was perched upon he was stopped by his companion. "It must be a trap, he wouldn't corner himself dileberately, think about. Summon your bow and take a shot from here," Instructed Raijū. "Now where is the fun in that," Grinned the black haired boy. Raiden recited the first assasin rule to himself as he supressed his chakra. "Assassin Rule Number One: Silence- dissolve in the darkness and erase your breath. Wait for an opening to attack your target," He muttered. It didn't really apply to him given the situation, but he felt that it kept him focused in battle. Afterh is battle rituals, he jumped down and sprinted towards the alley. Raijū had an irritating knack for being right, so Raiden took in to consideration the possibility of him being right about a trap.. yet again. He stopped in the middle of the road and reached for three shuriken. All were released at a terrifying speed from his hands and were directed towards his target. "Lightning Release: Voltage Blade!" Roared Raiden. The shuriken were imbued in his lightning chakra, speeding them up expententially. Two of which seemed to have stopped mid-flight. Raiden was confused but a shuriken emerged from the darkness within the alley, taking him by surprise. ''"Fuck! No time to react," He thought to himself Appearingly out of nowhere his wolf had jumped in the way of the speeding projectile. The shuriken struk him right in side, sending him crashing to the dusty street floor. "Raijū..!" Screamed Raiden. "Dont worry about me kid, worry about your self. This guy aint no ordinary shinobi," Replied Raijū, trying to supress the pain. As he was just a summon animal he poofed away back to Gōzen Ridge. Raidens attention reverted back to the other shuriken that had made it through the trap. It hit the dark lanky figure directly in his chest. Like his wounded comrade, the enemy puffed into smoke. "Shit! It was a clone!" He thought as he gritted his teeth and jump backwards, in order to give himself time to react in case his enemy had any more surprises for him. Raiden hadn't a clue as to where the real one was hiding. "Come and fight me like a man! You coward!!" He yelled in to the empty alley, still un aware of his oppenents location. If there was anything he hated more than foreigners, it was a coward. They were the complete opposite. After a few seconds of silence Raiden shouted again. "Dont ignore me you''' bastard!' Im gonna kill you!!" Raiden yelled. He drew his sword from his scabbard on his back, preparing for combat. Raiden probably wasn't joking, after all being a ninja of the Mist he was no stranger to killing. The blade became imbued in his lightning chakra, it was the same technique as before. It illuminated the dark. Seconds after chakra began to radiate from his body, forming as mini shocks of lightning around. He was pissed. Yep he was pissed, definetly pissed. That was one thing you never wanted to do. Piss off Raiden... ''Well, that was unexpected. Chūgo thought. He had planned on his pursuer initiating a direct taijutsu attack from the get-go, as that is most likely what he would have done, or at least what the genin he trained with back in Chogakure would have done. That had been a mistake, and a huge oversight on his part. The genin had sent his missiles into one of the wires with such force that it had jerked out one of the shuriken anchors and hurled it forward as a projectile, collapsing one side of the trap in the process. Chūgo had not intended to show such a level of hostility, but at least it had succeeded in causing the summoned wolf to disappear. That had been a surprise to Chūgo, as it was a rare technique and suggested his opponent possessed considerable skill as a shinobi. As the genin shouted his challenge Chūgo pressed his teeth into his left thumb, turning over all possible responses in his mind. He had several options here. He could create another clone, or play the sniper by using his crossbow, or mislead his adversary with a barrage of kunai while he set up a secondary attack. His opponent had obviously struck to kill, which meant Chūgo should respond in kind. But it puzzled him, as his opponent had intended to murder him with seemingly no apparent reason, putting himself at risk of disqualification from the exams. Perhaps he had been assigned to assassinate a member from the Land of Rivers teams, which was the more likely case. Only... why? He should wait to determine his opponent's motives before attacking. At any rate, the trap had only been meant to constrain and threaten his follower, not kill him. The fact that it had not worked according to plan was unfortunate, but still, he could use the situation to his advantage. Ah, what the hell... he flew from the rooftop in an eruption of leaves and landed in a crouch in the center of what remained of the trap. Craters formed where his hands and feet contacted the ground due to the extra weight of his heavy fūma shuriken. He sighed and then stood to his feet, a wall of unseen wires separating him from his opponent. Although he did not seem to have much in the way of distanced attacks due to him having drawn a sword, Chūgo was still wary of his foe. He could easily block a projectile attack by spinning his fūma shuriken, relying on his keen reflexes to counter, but whatever the case he needed to bring his enemy to him. Close contact, in other words, in order to initiate the next stage of his attack. But then, considering the electricity that sparked all around his adversary, he wondered if that was such good idea at all. With an inner shrug he decided to follow through with his original plan anyway. So long as he did not get hit by the charged blade, he would be fine... he hoped. Judging from the anger and annoyance demonstrated by the genin, the easiest way to bring him closer would be to provoke him. "You say I'm a coward, huh?" Chūgo asked, attempting to bate his opponent. "That's rich. A bit hypocritical isn't it?" He made sure he was completely relaxed as energy began to coalesce in his body, which would allow him to react instantly to anything his foe might throw his way. "You know, where I come from it's usually pretty bad policy to try and kill some guy you don't know anything about... makes you look stupid, if you catch my drift." He reached out and subtly took hold of one of the nearby wires. "And it's an easy way to get cut from the exams." Raiden quickly caught on to what his opponent was doing and didn't give in to his anger. Instead, he used it to his advantage by channeling it to empower is chakra. The lightning on the blade intensified, the chakra was so powerful you could hear it. An eerie, sinister howl that would make the most dominant wolves shudder. He decided to call it; 'The Wolfs Howl'. He then recited the next rule of the assassins. "Assassins Rule Number Two: Transpositional thinking- Analyze the target in order to predict his thoughts and movements." He muttered to himself. It was such powerful raw chakra he didn't know how long he could sustain it so he wasted no time at all. Raiden made his move, charging directly at his opponent. "I'm Raiden Narukami! The Spectre of the Mist. Let's see whats stronger.. My sword or your Fuma Shuriken," Yelled Raiden. He then seemingly disappeared, but in truth he had used one of his famed moves the Lightning Release: Body Flicker. It enabled him to travel at speeds greater than that of the original technique ny infusing the chakra with the chakra he uses for the normal Body Flicker. Raiden re appeared in the sky just above his opponent, his sword held high as he was descending towards him. He had such mastery over his breath control it couldn't be heard to the human ears. The only thing giving away his location were the howls of his blade. "Assassin's Rule Number Three: Speed- take out the target before the target notices your presence." Raiden said in his head. It was confirmed. He was going in for the kill. The Genin —Raiden— charged forwards as expected. The instant he started running Chūgo formed a rapid succession of hand seals. Ram, snake... But when his adversary disappeared with a flash of light he was caught off guard. Oh, well... damn. Chūgo did not wait around to see where his opponent would attack from, all that mattered was that he would attack. He leaped backwards out of the trap, snapping through another side of wires as he completed the jutsu with a tiger seal, a clone appearing the instant he moved. His momentum continued to carry him backwards, and he felt himself losing his balance. With another leap he flipped over backwards, pushing his hands against the ground in order to propel himself up to the side of the building, where he slid to a stop. He watched in awe as Raiden brought all the power of a storm down towards his clone. The Genin had used Body Flicker with incredible velocity, faster than what Chūgo could see with his eyes. In fact, it seemed to rival the speed of even that technique... He had moved in an instant, and Chūgo was relieved that he had been able to evade the attack at all. With a simple tug of the one string he held in his hand, he constricted the remaining two webs of wire in around his opponent, closing the trap in an instant in order to immobilize him. The wires seemed as if they had appeared out of nowhere, if their was one thing that Raiden knew was that his opponent was good with those wires. He knew if he allowed him self to get caught it would be over. He attempted to use his advance Body Flicker once again, but even he wasn't fast enough to evade the trap. Wire strings were wrapped around him from his shoulders to his ankles. Raidens hands were completely restricted, therefore he couldn't do his hand seals.. Meaning no ninjutsu. "Shit, Shit, Shit! '''Im fucking''' done for if i stay in this thing!" Raiden thought to himself as he squirmed. He soon composed himself as he forged a plan in the few seconds he had, but he had to admit it was risky even for him. Raiden noticed that the enemy still had a firm grip on the wire so he had to take the principles from the Voltage Blade Technique, which was primarily chakra flow, and apply it to the wires surrounding him by sending lightning chakra through the wire. If he pulled it off he would temporarily paralyze the opponent or at least shock them, buying him enough time to do what he needed to do. On the other hand, if he failed somehow, which was unlikely seeing as how good his chakra flow currently was, he was sure that the enemy would slaughter him with that oversized shuriken. "I wont die! Not here! Not Now! And definetly not by your doing!" Raiden shouted as he release lightning chakra through the wire and straight at the lanky boy at an unimaginable speed. Of course, Chūgo had expected Raiden to use the wire as a conduit. It was the only logical option available to him. As such, he had taken his opponent's electrical chakra into consideration, and had wrapped the wire around the handle of a kunai as soon as he had landed on the wall. Before the lightning could reach him, he simply drove the blade into the side of the building in order to diffuse the electricity. Having no other route to take, the lightning pooled into and charged the kunai, and Chūgo knew that it would rapidly begin to heat up: in other words, he did not have much time before it burned through the wire, releasing Raiden from his cage of metal strands. In the meantime... "There are three explosive tags planted beneath your feet," he said, staring down at his captive. Chūgo raised his hands as if to form a seal. "If you try to attack me, I'll detonate them. So basically... Well, I wouldn't move if I were you." he grinned. "Now, since you won't be going anywhere, let's say we slow down and have a little chat." he paused, then asked bluntly: "Why were you following me, who hired you, and why did you try to kill me?" "Ugh.. this sucks. Im happy Kizuko-Sensei aint here to see this. He'd whoop my ass...for sure," ''Raiden thought to himself. "Hire? What do you take me for? A fool? The Great Spectre of the Mist can '''NOT '''simply be ''hired, I came on my own accord" Raiden said. "And as for the second question, I just wanted to test how strong you are," He added. This whole ordeal had Raiden's blood pumping, he hadn't faced such a strong opponent in a long while now. He simply couldn't wait to kill him. "This guy hasn't even seen half of my power. He's gonna be in for a '''shocking' surprise," Raiden thought. Raiden had somewhat of a knack for making terrible jokes in situations like these. He almost laughed at his own pun but he composed himself because he would of looked lame. "Ok. My turn to ask the questions. Who are you?" Asked Raiden. "What? That's it? You attacked me because you thought it would be a good fight?" Chūgo sighed and shook his head. "The name's Chūgo, Chūgo Omu. And if it's a fight you're looking for..." he reached for his fūma shuriken, but stopped, quickly gauging his current situation. The alleyway was too narrow for him to properly use his weapon of choice, and the wire would soon melt anyway. His options were limited here, even if a fight would have been interesting. "Save it for the exams. It's not worth it anyway." he finished before he disappeared, flickering away into the distance and leaving his opponent in the alley behind him. Raiden watch as he dissolved into the darkness, he didn't bother call after him as he knew it would be pointless. He could feel the metal wire beginning to give way. "This couldn't get any worse," Snorted Raiden as he lost his balance and was pulled down to the ground by gravity. ''"Great," He thought. Soon after, he was able to break free from the wires clutches. Raiden picked up his sword and returned it to the scabbard on his back. Then he began a sequence of hand seals, Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram. Following this he bit his thumb and slammed his hand to the ground. "Summoning Jutsu," He murmered. A puff of smoke was seen and then his wolf companion emerged from. "Its about time, Great Wolf Sage healed me up ages ago. Now, fill me in," Raijū demanded. "Great. No time. Track down Chūgo. I'll tell you the details enroute," Replied Raiden "Chūgo?" Asked the wolf. "Giant shuriken guy.. Now let go," Raiden said. Raijū gave a simple nod, and he was off into the lingering mist once again. "Chū''go Omu, huh. Let's how tough you really are. Im coming for you... you bastard," Raiden thought to himself with a grin as he soared through the night sky. Fight and Flight: Mist and Rivers Clash! Chūgo chuckled as he watched Raiden vanish into the night. His decoy had been a success. Once again, he had formed a duplicate of himself using the basic clone technique, and had sent it off in one direction while he himself circled back around and hid on the roof in the exact same place where he had been before. He had infused some of his chakra into the clone to make it a more stable and believable illusion, and also suppressed his own chakra as much as he could to remain hidden from his opponent's senses. He waited for a moment after Raiden left before he went to examine the remains of his trap. He dug out the explosive tags and brushed them off, carefully stowing them away for a future occasion, while he wound up whatever wire was salvageable into a tight coil that he stored in one of the pouches on his belt, and quickly collected the various shuriken that were scattered about. He did not have much time. Raiden had summoned his wolf almost immediately after escaping from the trap, and Chūgo knew that a canine sense of smell was incredibly sharp, not to mention the creature could probably sense his chakra as well. In that case, he needed to hurry and find Raiden as soon as possible before he lost the element of surprise. Chūgo took out a small, square device that resembled a radio transmitter and tuned it using a small knob on its side. He had placed a small tracking bug on his clone, and his enemy was no doubt close behind that small, blinking red doubt on the screen. With a sinking feeling he saw as it was headed towards the outskirts of village— and the wild rocky swampland beyond. He groaned. “Not that way, moron.” he grumbled as he took off using Body Flicker. He traveled by leaping from rooftop to rooftop, travelling in a straight line to cut down on time. “Damn, this guy moves fast,” he said, grunting as he pushed off from another building. He removed one of the scrolls he carried as he moved and, unraveling it, revealed a sleek black crossbow. He wrapped an explosive tag around a bolt and loaded it, checking to make sure the weapon was in good working order. With the next jump he found himself sailing over the thick carpet of leaves that signified the start of the forest. Although mist still clung to the ground, he was mostly above the dense white cloud, and the moon was three-quarters full, meaning he could still see some ways into the distance despite it being dark. He saw the towering black shapes of the needle-like rocks that surrounded Kirigakure standing still in the shadows, and at last he caught a sliver of movement. It was his clone, some distance ahead of him, and although he could not see his enemy he assumed he was somewhere close behind. He stopped on an outcropping of rock on one of the natural towers of stone, took aim, and pulled the trigger smoothly. It was mainly a blind shot, but gauging the speed that his clone was moving, he aimed where Raiden should have been and fired. The string snapped, there was a whisper as the bolt left the crossbow, and it cut silently through the air as it sought-out its target. The arrow struk Raiden straight threw the back of the head, but on impact what look liked Raiden dispersed into a smoke. It was a clone. ''"A taste of your own medicene," Raiden thought to himself safely hidden by the darkness on a rooftop. "If it wasn't for me advising you to use a clone you would be dead right now Raiden. I knew it couldn't of been him because the mist around him wasn't seperating. After all, clones are completely intangible and cant effect the surroundings. You ought to thank me once in a while," Raijū said. "No time to waste on that, we now know his exact location because of that arrow, that bastard masked his scent pretty well.. even you couldn't smell him," Replied the now level headed shinobi. The duo looked at each other and were gone from their rooftop post with a surge of electricity. They reappeared directly behind Chūgo, taking him by surprise. Raiden drew his sword and had it rested on the throat of his foe in a flash. "Listen up. I want to fight you fair and square, killing you now from behind would be a cowards move. I promise not to kill you, not because I dont want to but because that bitch over there persuaded me not to, anyways I can't afford to not pass the exams this year there is something I must do. 'However, '''if you flee now I can not guarantee that you will live to see the sun rise again. So, do we have a deal?" Raiden Said with a grin. Chūgo knew something had been wrong the instant the bolt had passed through the head of his target without detonating. It must have been a clone. Now, with Raiden holding his blade against his neck, he found he was quickly running out of options. ''Shit. He opened his mouth as if to reply, but just then the way-ward bolt that must have still been sailing through the air hit something in the distance, and there was a sudden explosion. In the flare of the blast, Chugo took advantage of the brief moment of distraction and used the body replacement technique. Where he had been an instant before was now a log, and he slid backwards from Raiden, panting slightly with exertion. So it was a fight he wanted? Then he would get it. “You’ll murder a ‘coward’ in cold-blood and yet, now that you’ve been threatened, you just want a fight?” Chugo narrowed eyes. “Like hell I’d believe that.” With a rapid-fire switching of scrolls his crossbow disappeared and instead a dozen kunai appeared, floating in space as he lifted his hands. He needed to attack quickly, and end the fight before it began— before Raiden could use his speed, and before anyone found them due to the explosion he had caused. Yeah, great thinking there Chu. He grit his teeth as he berated himself. A split second later and he propelled the kunai towards Raiden, clapping his hands together to increase their speed immensely with a simple gust of wind. I hope you eat your words, wolf-boy. Raijū had already anticipated Chūgo's moves, his animal instinct was like no other. He leaped into the path that he knew the kunai would take "Wolf Art: Barrier!" Roared the wolf. A barrier fromed of lightning appeared in front of the due deflecting all the kunai knives, but one. The barrier hadn't been wide enough so one kunai just got past and sliced Raidens right arm. '"Argh, Shit!" '''yelled the partially wounded shinobi. It stung but he tried his hardest to suppress the pain. "Coward! Stop playing games with me and fight me like a man, you coward!" Yelled Raiden once again. As soon as the barrier was down he made a few lightning speed hand seals and launched a barrage of lightning balls at his opponent. His comrade also aided in the attack with a blast of compressed lightning. "I... Hate... Cowards!" Raiden Said. “Ah great…” Chūgo muttered under his breath as he reached for his fūma shuriken. It seemed he would have to use it, after all, which was unfortunate as he had been trying to conserve his energy. As the lighting shot towards him he held the weapon in front of him and spun it easily on the palm of his hand. The rotating blades turned incredibly fast, and a spiral of wind rushed outwards, negating the electricity as the movement of air formed a natural insulator. With his other hand he pulled out two shuriken and, layering one on top and the other on the bottom where it would be hidden, launched the projectiles through the vortex of wind. ''Cling. A high pitched frequency emulated from the two peices of steel as they collided. Raiden had just barely stopped the speeding shuriken, the sword just scraped hence the high pitch noise. The projectiles course was preverted into a nearby wall. Another shuriken had trailed the other shuriken, hiding in its shadow catching Raiden by surprise. With his lightning fast reflexes he just barely managed to dodge the shuriken. Blood dripped from Raidens left cheek, now the second injury he had sustained in the fight. He couldn't allow himself to be beaten by a foreigner. Just as he glanced over to give companion a command he saw him rolling around in agony. Raiden concluded that due the wolfs advanced hearing abilities the noise made by the collision must hurt him pretty bad. He took a stance, familiar to all that have witnessed Raiden fight before. A special Kenjutsu stance. Yes, he was going to use that ''technique. Electric began to spark around him in aura before he raced towards his opponent as fast as lightning. So fast that even the famed sharingan would have a hard time anticpating it. "Try dodge this you bastard," Raiden Said. Chūgo knew how fast his opponent was, and also knew that if the lightning hit him he was done for. He could not predict Raiden’s attack, but he knew the only way to survive was to keep moving. That is why, the second Raiden had been distracted by the shuriken, he had leapt up to the rock face above them while using his now rather predictable clone technique to replace his own body. Raiden struck with such speed, it was doubtful he had time to recognize it was a fake. Still, Chūgo had barely managed to do that one thing in the time it took Raiden to attack. One thing was for certain, and that was that he could not fight at this pace for long. ''I need to keep moving. He told himself again. At the same time, if he could incapacitate either of his opponent’s legs…. He swung his fūma shuriken from his position on the rock tower, then dived off into the forest. Any form of cover would help him. Raiden wanted to fight face to face, but with his buzzing, sparking chakra, Chūgo was going to make sure that did not happen. "Again?! That same fucking technique?! What a coward!" Raiden shouted, he was infuriated. His chakra intesified making him glow in the dark. He glance up and saw his opponents over grown shuriken flying at him. Raiden leaped into the air so that he was ontop of the shuriken. He noticed the shuriken was heading towards Raijū so he imbued his sword with lightning and threw it. The sword hit its mark. The blade struk the shuriken sending it off course. Raiden glanced back to where his opponent was but he was gone. "Buddy recover soon.. bring my sword to me then," Raiden said, talking to his companion. Raiden removed the bandages around his forearm and the placed to finger on it. A bow and a quiver full of arrows appeared. He placed the quiver on his back and used his lightning body flicker to chase after his opponent. After a few minutes of pursuit he stopped, perched on a tree branch. He drew and arrow and placed it in the bow. Raiden pulled back the bow. He closed his eyes, and listened for the faintest movement. A technique that he had learned from Raijū, it allowed him to tune out every other sound and hone in on a certain sound. Raiden heard rapid footsteps, it was him. It had to be. "Your not the only hotshot around here, ya know," Raiden Said. He held his breath in order to stop the sway, focused on Chūgo and nothing else. He released the arrow. It elegantly ripped through the sky as it hunted its target. When Chūgo heard Raiden’s voice he froze. He had just dived into the spreading leaves of a wide tree, and had crouched in between the crook of two branches, remaing still and waiting for Raiden to pass him by. His opponent was close, very close. Peering into the dark mist, he could make out a faint, glowing spot of blue a short distance away. Chūgo tried to calm his breathing. He had found him? But then no… who was he yelling at? He turned his attention to the forest floor below and, through the dense fog, was able to make out a faint figure that seemed to pass without hindrance through the night, heading straight towards the tree he was hiding in. What the... Chūgo readied a kunai to throw in case they happened to be an enemy. But as they grew nearer he saw that it was his clone— the original one he had sent out ages ago, and the one who had led them here to begin with. He grinned, but then his heart jumped as a black arrow cut through the illusion, straight through the heart. The clone disappeared and a deep silence enveloped the forest. So his opponent was a skilled archer as well... that made things complicated. If he gave the slightest movement he would likely be seen, which meant he could not remove the scroll in his pouch to use his own crossbow. Glancing up, he saw a towering spire of stone dimly illuminated by the moonlight. He narrowed his eyes and stared at it. It couldn’t be... he had run all this way, and had ended up circling back to the very same rock they had begun at. It was impossible to find his way in the dark, especially in such unfamiliar terrain. But now, he was close enough to the rock where he had left his shuriken and, if he concentrated, he just might be able to reach it. As subtly as possible, he extended his hands and activated the two powerful magnets beneath the metal bands on the backs of his gloves with a specific wavelength of chakra. Some distance away, the fūma shuriken pulled itself from the rock face and flew down towards the chakra-imbued magnets, ripping through the forest as it cut its way back towards Chūgo... and Raiden, who stood between them. The Getaway The shuriken missed the sparking man, as shortly before it would have hit it was struck by a bullet of water, knocking it off course. Aoi heard the explosion, and knew that even now, they were being tracked down, as a tag going off around a major event like this would not be taken lightly, and he'd rather not be there when they came upon this place of conflict. They'd be captured and likely imprisoned for causing the village issues. He had been planning ever since the fighting started to avoid this outcome, but the outsider had spoiled it when he set off that tag. In his haste, he had been slowing increasing the fog of the area to even greater heights, blocking off as much sight as he could. But now it was time for them to leave. He used the Body Flicker Technique to get in between them, before saying, "You two need to stop this. The damn ANBU is probably already on it's way after one of you two idiots set off an explosive tag. Last thing we can afford is to stick around where they might find us." Chūgo grimaced as the stranger pointed out his error in judgment. He had attached an explosive tag in order to illuminate the dark so he could see his opponent, and had not considered the fact that it would draw unnecessary attention— such as that of the newcomer himself. He listened for a moment, as he knew his shuriken had been thrown off its course, but he could not tell where it had landed. It had been increasingly harder to see in the dense mist. He thrust out his hands again and, this time, the shuriken whizzed back to him without hindrance. He caught it by its inner handle and swung it around his hand so that it spun. “And who the hell are you?” he asked as he prepared to launch it again. He knew that saying as much would have given his position away to Raiden, but he doubted he could see very well in the thick fog either. Nonetheless, it was better to be safe than sorry. Chūgo switched locations, leaping to the ground where he had more room to spin his weapon. He wasn't about to let his guard down, not for a second. Raiden springed from the tree to take his place next to his water release using teammate, Aoi. He gave a nod in acknowledgement to him, seeing as he just saved his life. Raiden was incapable of seeing his teammates logic, the Hidden Mist technique was up and he knew that Raiden could easily dispose of Chūgo with his Silent Killing technique due to his mastery in the technique, but what ever Aoi said he would obey because of his unwavering loyalty to his bestfriend and team leader. In all honesty, Raiden was worn out. His chakra was mostly gone, he regretted exerting so much chakra. That for sure was something he would have to work on before the Chunin Exams. In his head Raiden admitted to defeat in the battle but the war was far from over. He concluded that the only reason he was defeated was because he had an intense traiining session prior to the battle. The tree's behind Raiden and Aoi began to rustle... "'''Shit!! '''The ANBU!! We are as good as dead if its a unit from FOG," ''Raiden was clearly scared out of his mind. Out from the tree's came a wolf, it was just Raijū. Raiden let out a small sigh of relief as he welcomed his partner. "No time.. it's Fang Unit. I set a trap for them but i doubt it'll hold em long and if they catch us... It wont be pretty," Exclaimed Raijū. The Fang Unit was the best unit within FOG, a top secret ANBU branch within Kirigakure. The only reason Aoi, Raiden and Raijū was because Raidens former sensei, Kizuko, was the leader of Fang Unit before he defected and he had been in a situation were he had to comprimise it. "We have to move now! Raiden your in no condition to evade them right now let me restore your chakra. Hey, lanky kid. Come'ere.. you aint got a lot of chakra either and without chakra they will catch you no if's, but's or maybe's. And if they catch you they will torture you and force you to comprimise us then we are all screwed," The wolf said, taking command of the situation. On any other day Raiden would have protested against giving Chūgo chakra because as far as he was concerned he was the enemy, but today was an exception. And anyway as the phrase says; '''The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. ''Raiden pointed towards the wolf letting the lanky boy know that he would allow it. "I won't bite.. Dont worry," Raijū said, showcasing his countless razor sharp teeth. Chūgo stopped spinning his shuriken and glared at the pair. “And give me one good reason why I should trust you.” he snarled. Normally, Chūgo was never one to lose his composure, but now with the FOG unit breathing down their necks, he was feeling cornered. He could not trust Raiden, he knew virtually nothing about the stranger, and he most certainly could not afford to be captured by the special forces. “Besides, it’s not like I had that much chakra to begin with. And I don’t really care what happens to you or your team anyway.” he stalled, looking around him for the best path to escape. The mist was an impenetrable blanket around him, and he could barely see six meters in front of him. He began to think, chewing on his thumb as his mind raced through strategies and scenarios. All he had to do was make it back to the village without being detected. He could suppress his chakra, use the hidden cloak technique… Whatever his options were, they were slim and difficult, to say the least. He turned towards the newcomer, still keeping his eye on Raiden, and asked: “So did you have a plan for getting us out of here?” "Well, kid. Its not very sophisticate but it'll do the trick. Seeing as a normal sensory cant detect us in all this fog they employ ninja hounds. And ninja hounds have a very keen sense of smell, like me, so therefore if i take a piss everywhere and add in the odd fart or two it should throw them off our scent allowing us to escape. You understand?" Raiju said. His tongue became imbued with chakra and he began to lick Raiden, instanly revitalising his chakra. "Now get over here, lanky. We aint got time to waste," Raiju added. Chūgo’s eyelids sank, dulling his eyes, and he sighed. “I wasn’t talking to you, pooch.” he said. There was a serious flaw in the wolf’s proposed plan: namely time. They needed to get out of the area as quickly as possible, and he seriously doubted that the wolf could redirect their trackers before they were found out. A considerable expanse of time had already passed between the detonation of the explosive tag and the arrival of this newcomer, and Chūgo continued to run through calculations in his mind. He was interested in what the stranger who had been standing between him and Raiden had to say, as he knew that, unless he was incredibly blind, he had not come all the way out here only to hit a dead-end. In other words, he had a plan of his own. Just then, they heard something crashing through the timber in the distance, and everyone froze. The sound ended abruptly, but they knew that someone, somewhere, was near. "You two need to follow me" Aoi said as he created a rope out of water, "I set up quite a few water and oil traps in the woods ahead. I doubt it will stop them, but it should be enough to let us get back to town and get away from them." He finished, he had created several watery pit traps and had put oil on the branches, it would definitely slow their pursuers down. "You guys spread out behind me at all, and I can't guarantee you won't run into one of them. So grab the rope, and follow me." After a moment’s hesitation, Chūgo did as he had been told and took off after the fair-haired boy. It was still a gamble, but he would take his chances in following him. At least the stranger had not attacked him from the get-go, unlike another individual... Chūgo glanced behind to check if Raiden was still there. He felt uneasy with the person who had just been his enemy a second before breathing down his neck, but it could not be helped. The three of them continued to make their way through the dark, growing further and further away from their pursuers with the white-haired boy's expert guidance. Team Five Assemble! The young genin had finally lost their pursuers and where stood in the middle of a training ground in complete darkness. Raiden made a small ball of electricity aboved head as a light source as he stood hunched over to catch is breath. He gave a thought about going to fight against the lanky kid once more but he knew he didn't have enough energy and looking at Chu he realised he didn't either. "What.. now.. Aoi?" He said, still catching his breath. Now that they were out of danger, Chūgo’s pounding heart began to calm. He was still breathing heavily, but seemed more annoyed that he had wasted all the energy he would have gained from his dinner an hour or two ago due to all the running they had done. “Well, not that I care but... for starters you could explain why exactly you attacked me in the first place.” Chūgo said pointedly at Raiden. “And how did you track us all the way out here?” he asked the other Kiri-nin. “I know the explosion was pretty visible, but still... you followed us all the way from the village. Why? That was just putting yourself in danger." he said. ''And I'm a complete stranger at that. He added inwardly. Category:Kaz Roleplays